Method of making a mosaic of predetermined design



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METHOD OF MAKING A MOSAIC OF PREDETERMINED DESIGN Filed May 19, 1959 INVENTOR Duane nyder WWW W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,002,309 METHOD OF MAKING A MOSAIC 0F PREDETERMINED DESIGN Duane W. Snyder, 512 Bader Ave., Wayuesboro, Va. Filed May 19, 1959, Ser. No. 814,337 3 Claims. (Cl. 41--23) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in the art of making mosaic, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a new method whereby various mosaic patterns may be made in a simple manner even by persons not gifted with artistic abilities.

As such, the mosaic making method in accordance with the invention involves the provision of a plurality of individually removable overlay elements on a pressuresensitive adhesively coated backing sheet,lthese overlay elements having indicia thereon corresponding to predetermined colors, subsequently individually removing the overlay elements from the backing sheet and selecting mosaic elements of a color which corresponds to the indicia of each overlay element so removed, and finally, applying the selected mosaic elements to portions of the adhesively coated backing sheet from which the overlay elements with the respective corresponding indicia have been removed.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that by coordinating the indicia on the overlay elements with a predetermined pattern in accordance with portions of the area of the backing sheet which such overlay elements cover, even a person with limited skill in the art may easily make a mosaic of the predetermined pattern by simply removing the overlay elements and substituting corresponding mosaic elements in their place.

With the foregoing more important object and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an overlay sheet mounted on an adhesively coated backing sheet in accordance with the initial steps of the method herein involved;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken substantially in the plane of the line 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, similar to that shown in FIGURE 1 but showing the overlay sheet divided into individually removable and individually identified elements;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the completed mosaic;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken substantially in the plane of the line 5 -5 in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of one of the mosaic elements with an upturned corner portion revealing its underside.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the mosaic making method in accordance with the invention involves the provision of a suitable backing sheet 10 which may be made of wood, metal, plastic, cardboard, Masonite, or any other suitable material. The top surface of the backing sheet 10 is coated with any suitable pressure-sensitive adhesive as indicated at 11 and an overlay sheet 12 of paper, cloth, thin plastic, or other suitable material is mounted on the backing sheet 10 by this adhesive. The sheet '10 together with the sheet 12 thereon is then passed through a suitable slitting machine successively in two directions at 90 to each other, whereby the overlay sheet 12 is divided by parallel, intersecting slits 13 into a plurality of individually removable overlay elements 14 of an equal size and shape, in this instance Patented Oct. 3., 1961 in the shape of a square. However, the sheet 12 may also be slit so that the elements 14 are oblong, triangular, or in the shape of a diamond or a parallelogram, if so preferred.

In any event, the individual overlay elements 14 are identified by suitable indicia 15 which may be printed or otherwise marked thereon to correspond to diiferent colors in accordance with a predetermined mosaic pattern which is to be formed and in coordination with the portions of the area of the backing sheet 10 which the respective overlay elements 14 cover. In other words, if a predetermined portion of the area of the backing sheet is to have a blue color in the mosaic pattern and the color blue is identified arbitrarily by the indicia 2, then the particular overlay element covering that portion of the backing sheet is identified by that same indicia.

With the steps of the method carried out thus far, the backing sheet with the overlay sheet adhesively mounted thereon and slit as aforementioned with identifying indicia on the individual overlay elements is supplied to a prospective user, together with a quantity of differently colored mosaic elements 16 which conform in size and shape to the overlay elements 14 and are suitably marked with indicia 17 at the underside thereof, corresponding according to color to the indicia 15 of the overlay elements. As such, the mosaic elements 16 may be supplied to the user in their individual, pre-cut form, each identified as to color by its indicia, or if desired, the mosaic elements of a same color may be furnished in a unitary sheet form, marked with intersecting lines or provided with intersecting lines of perforations so that the user may cut or tear the same into the individual mosaic elements. In the latter instance the provision of the indicia 17 on each individual mosaic element may not be necessary, since the sheet as a whole may be appropriately identified as to color by indicia placed only at one or more spaced points on the sheet.

The mosaic elements 16 are preferably made of fabric material such as velvet, or the like, in which event they are suitably sized or otherwise treated to prevent fraying or unravelling thereof at their edges. However, mosaic elements of paper, plastic, wood, or any other suitable material may also be employed.

In practicing the method, the user successively removes the individual overlay elements 14 from the backing sheet 10, observing the indicia 15 on each element so removed, whereupon he selects the appropriate mosaic elements 16, the indicia 17 of which correspond to the indicia of the respective elements 14. The user then places the selected mosaic elements 16 on those portions of the area of the backing sheet 10 from which the overlay elements 14 with the respective corresponding indicia have been removed, thus easily and correctly producing the particular predetermined mosaic pattern according to which the overlay sheet 12 has been arranged. Upon completion of the same, the backing sheet 10 with the mosaic elements 16 adhesively secured thereto by the coating 11 may be mounted in a suitable frame, or the like (not shown), for purposes of display, if so desired.

It may be noted that although the accompanying drawings show the elements 14, 16 as being square, they may also be of other configurations as already mentioned and, if desired, may be subdivided or otherwise made in a size small enough as to facilitate formation of patterns with curved or irregular dividing lines. Thus, while in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred method of practicing the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure, and

various modifications may be resorted to, such as may lie within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is: v 1. A method of making a mosaic, comprising the steps of coating a backing sheet With pressure-sensitive adhesive, applying an overlay sheet to the backing sheet so coated, slitting the overlay sheet with series of parallel and intersecting lines to divide the overlay sheet into a plurality of individually removable overlay elements of a uniform size and shape each covering a predetermined portion of the area of the backing sheet, identifying the individual overlay elements in relation to a predetermined pattern With indicia corresponding to predetermined colors, successively removing said overlay elements from the backing sheet, and applying mosaic elements of the same size and shape as the overlay elements and of colors corresponding to the indicia of the respective overlay elements so removed to the pressuresensitive adhesively coated respective portions or the area of the backing sheet from which the overlay elements with the respective corresponding indicia have been removed.

2. A method of making a mosaic comprising the steps of coating a backing sheet with pressure-sensitive adhesive, applying an overlay sheet to the backing sheet so coated, slitting the overlay sheet into a plurality of individually removable overlay elements each covering a predetermined portion of the area of said backing sheet and each having indicia corresponding to a predetermined color, successively removing said overlay elements from said backing sheet, and applying mosaic elements of the same size and shape as the overlay elements and of colors corresponding to the indicia of the respective overlay elements so removed to the pressure-sensitive adhesively coated respective portions of the area of the backing sheet from which the overlay elements with the respective corresponding indicia have been removed.

3. A method of making a mosaic comprising the steps of coating a backing sheet with pressure-sensitive adhesive, applying an overlay sheet to the backing sheet so coated, slitting the overlay sheet into a plurality of individually removable overlay elements each covering a predetermined portion of the area of said backing sheet, identifying the individual overlay elements in relation to a particular design pattern with indicia corresponding to particular colors, successively removing said overlay elements from the backing sheet, and applying mosaic elements of the same size and shape as the overlay elements and of colors corresponding to the indicia of the respective overlay elements so removed to the pressuresensitive adhesively coated respective portions of the area of the backing from which the overlay elements with the respective corresponding indicia have been removed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,304,787 Avery Dec. 15, 1942 2,372,994 Welch Apr. 3, 1945 2,587,003 Shina Feb. 26, 1952 2,763,587 Masland Sept. 18, 1956 2,876,575 Leika Mar. 10, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 288,853 Italy Sept. 25, 1931 

